We partner with many types of businesses in the area, and strive to eliminate IT issues before they cause expensive downtime, so you can continue to drive your business forward. Our dedicated staff loves seeing our clients succeed. Your success is our success, and as you grow, we grow.

If you're using Zoom—especially during this challenging time to cope with your schooling, business, or social engagement—make sure you are running the latest version of the widely popular video conferencing software on your Windows, macOS, or Linux computers.

No, it's not about the arrival of the most-awaited "real" end-to-end encryption feature, which apparently, according to the latest news, would now only be available to paid users. Instead, this latest warning is about two newly discovered critical vulnerabilities.

For the small business, times are increasingly tough. Many businesses have been forced to close down until after the coronavirus outbreak has been mitigated, but for those businesses who are still at it, you must be looking to save some money. Outsourcing your IT to a managed service provider may be just the thing you are looking for in order to get comprehensive IT support your business needs, while also strategically cutting organizational outlay for IT support and services.

Homeworking and learning have led to a boom in videoconferencing, with Zoom a major beneficiary. But concerns over privacy and security raise important questions: is Zoom safe, and is it even GDPR compliant?

Security concerns revolve around the recent discovery of several vulnerabilities taken with the length of time it has taken Zoom to fix earlier vulnerabilities. Privacy concerns focus on a lack of transparency around the user or meeting data retained by Zoom, and who else has access to it. We will concentrate on the privacy issues in this article.

Data retention and third-party access concerns are typified by the recent discovery that the Zoom iOS app had been passing data to Facebook even where the iOS user had no Facebook account. There was no indication in Zoom's privacy policy that this was happening (Zoom has stopped this, but iOS users will need to download the latest app version to prevent it continuing).

Forced by the current COVID-19 pandemic to work from home, many are using Zoom to stay connected with co-workers and other people they work with, and cybercriminals are taking advantage of the situation to trick people into downloading their malicious programs.

Companies around the world have or are finding the need to send their workers home to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. For many business owners, managing your staff remotely is a brand new paradigm. Here’s what you need to know.

First of all, it’s important not to panic. Many organizations have been offering work-from-home perks for years. Not only is it entirely possible to keep business running, but many businesses see a boost in productivity. A two-year Stanford study shows that in general, remote workers are as productive, if not more so, than those confined to an office.

Last week, as COVID-19 cases continued to spread around the world, millions of people moved to remote work. We were right there with them. Many of our customers have asked us to share the details of how we enable remote work for workforces from a small office to major corporations.

Below are some solutions that may work for you, but if you wish to learn more, contact us so we can give you a personalized list of solutions that work for your industry and business:

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information. The law has emerged into greater prominence in recent years with the proliferation of health data breaches caused by cyberattacks and ransomware attacks on health insurers and providers.

What is the purpose of HIPAA?

HIPAA, also known as Public Law 104-191, has two main purposes: to provide continuous health insurance coverage for workers who lose or change their job and to reduce the administrative burdens and cost of healthcare by standardizing the electronic transmission of administrative and financial transactions. Other goals include combating abuse, fraud, and waste in health insurance and healthcare delivery and improving access to long-term care services and health insurance.

Listen up: if you are still using Windows 7--or much worse yet, Windows Server 2008 R2-- and these machines are connected to a network that is connected to the Internet, that network is in jeopardy. Microsoft has retired support for both operating systems and will no longer provide crucial security updates and bug fixes making them vulnerable to cyberattacks.

What Moves Should You Make? You need to do what you can to upgrade away from Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

That’s the bug number assigned to one of the security holes fixed in Microsoft’s January 2020 Patch Tuesday updates. Of the 50 bugs patched this month, that’s the Big One, officially described by Microsoft as a “Windows CryptoAPI Spoofing Vulnerability“.

To explain.

The CryptoAPI, partly implemented in a Windows file called crypt32.dll (you’ll also hear that filename used to describe this bug), is the way that many, if not most, Windows programmers add encryption functionality into their software.

Apple iPhones are considered secure devices, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t open to hacking. And yesterday, Google Project Zero’s ethical hackers showed just how easy it can be to access your iPhone or iPad without your knowledge.

Armed only with a user’s Apple ID, security researcher Samuel Groß was able to remotely hack an iPhone within minutes, stealing passwords, text messages, and emails.

Leveraging just one vulnerability labeled CVE-2019-8641, Groß was also able to remotely activate an Apple iPhone’s microphone and camera without any interaction from the user. In simple terms, this means an attacker could gain access to your iPhone without you clicking a malicious URL.

If you use a computer or mobile device long enough, something will eventually go wrong. You may accidentally delete the wrong files, have a hardware failure, or lose a device. Even worse, malware, such as ransomware, may wipe your files and/or hold them captive. At times like these, backups are often the only way you can rebuild your digital life.

Backups are copies of your information stored somewhere other than on your computer or mobile device. When you lose valuable data, you can recover your data from backups. The first step is deciding what you want to back up: specific data that is important to you or everything, including your entire operating system. Many backup solutions are configured by default to use the first approach. They back up the most commonly used folders. If you are not sure what to back up or want to be extra careful, back up everything.

Many of us have received phishing email, either at work or at home. These emails look legitimate, such as from your bank, your boss, or your favorite online store, but are really an attack, attempting to pressure or trick you into taking an action you should not take, such as opening an infected email attachment, sharing your password, or transferring money. The challenge is, the savvier we become at spotting and stopping these email attacks, the more cybercriminals try other ways of contacting and scamming us.

As business owners, our worlds revolve around generating revenue while being stricken with anxiety over all of the things that could harm our business. As leaders, we have always had to deal with the common factors that can interrupt our revenue streams from staffing issues, to market fluctuations, to natural disasters, oh my! Over the past decade, one single item on this list has advanced as a threat to our revenue streams quicker than any other single item. This item cannot only bring our business to a screeching halt but it can easily put businesses into bankruptcy and have business owners closing their doors.

The problem is without this item, most businesses in today’s business world would find it hard to conduct business let alone generate revenue.

Consider how much of your business operations rely on computers - you store your business and customer data digitally, including financial accounts, personal information, and other specifics. Unfortunately, while this data is clearly invaluable to your business, do you know who else would find your data valuable?

The holiday season is nearing for many of us and soon millions of people will be looking to buy the perfect gifts. Many of us will shop online in search of great deals and avoid noisy crowds. Unfortunately, cybercriminals will be active as well, creating fake shopping websites and using other tactics to scam people. In this newsletter, we explain how you can shop online safely and avoid becoming a victim.

There's every reason in the world to shop online. The bargains are there. The selection is mind-boggling. The shopping is secure. Shipping is fast. Even returns are easy, with the right e-tailers. Shopping has never been easier or more convenient for consumers.

But what about the bad guys who lay in wait? It happens. The FBI's own Internet Crime Complaint Center says the number one cybercrime of 2017 was related to online shopping: non-payment for or non-deliver of goods purchased. Phishing was third, but it was at an all-time high during Q2 2018, according to the APWG's Phishing Activity Trends Report.

When Windows 7 reaches the end of support, the operating system will display a full-screen warning stating that Windows is more vulnerable to viruses and that you should upgrade to Windows 10.

On January 14th, 2020, Windows 7 will officially reach the end of support (EoS) and unless you have purchased "Extended Security Updates", you will no longer receive security updates, Microsoft Security Essentials definitions, software updates, or tech support for the operating system.

In order to warn Windows 7 users about the upcoming EoS, some Windows 7 updates will install a program called EOSnotify.exe that will routinely run via scheduled tasks.

Back when Windows 10 was first released, Microsoft allowed users of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Microsoft officially ended the free upgrade offer in December 2017, but a method still works that allows you to upgrade an older version of Windows to Windows 10 for free.

Microsoft doesn’t talk about that Windows 10 free upgrade offer anymore, but devices with legitimate Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 licenses could be upgraded to Windows 10 for free using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.

To get Windows 10, you’ll just have to download and run Media Creation Tool on Windows 7/8/8.1 and upgrade the PC to Windows 10. After the upgrade, connect to the internet and your older Windows license will be converted to a Windows 10 license.

If you're using Zoom—especially during this challenging time to cope with your schooling, business, or social engagement—make sure you are running the latest version of the widely popular video conferencing software on your Windows, macOS, or Linux computers.No, it's no...